It’s hard to think of a contemporary franchise that has a sartorially minded protagonist, let alone good overall menswear. After all, Marvel films aren’t exactly known for their approaches to tailoring (outside a few period scenes in assorted movies like Cap 1). Nothing else really comes to mind. But with Kenneth Branaugh’s latest entry in his own take on the Poriot mythos, I think we may just have a contender! Or rather, the only option we have for such a thing. 

Sorry, James. 

Spencer, MJ, and I watched A Haunting in Venice when it released last week and to our surprise, we actually enjoyed it! It’s definitely spooky with a few expected (and unexpected) jumpscares and cheesy detective lines, but it made for an interesting take on the shenanigans that Hercule Poirot typically finds himself in.  Everything is shot exceptionally well, making great use of what Venice has to offer. I would occasionally lean over and whisper to MJ and Spencer that I had been there before. 

Since it’s a mystery with some supernatural nods, I’m not going to spoil it, but trust me when I say that Haunting is definitely a better movie than the nam-y mess that is Death on the Nile (Murder was honestly okay). And yes, the costuming also does not disappoint! This film is set in Venice during Halloween, 1947 (10 years after Death) which allows us to get back to mid century fall attire (our favorite thing). As a result, the clothes are a little less dandy than the previous entries, but that actually works for our taste.

Poriot gets to wear a pinstripe suit (looks like it’s flannel or some kind of heavy vintage fabric) with a spearpoint collar (more like a Goodfellas one due its lack of tie space) and a red foulard tie that looks like it has some texture. He also goes back to wearing a homburg and an overcoat in this one, the latter of which has a bellied front. My only gripe is that his collar bar is worn too low (yet again), which makes it look like it was placed there unintentionally rather than for the effect of bringing the collar points together and raising the tie knot. I did notice that he feels a bit more “casual” in this film, using a foulard tie instead of his more jacquard-like ones and forgoing the contrast, detachable collar (which we first saw in Murder).

Jamie Dornan’s Dr. Ferrier has the second coolest look in the film, dressing quite English thanks to his guncheck jacket. In some scenes, it looks like it was designed with the late 1940s vaguely in mind due the jacket’s broad shoulder and drape cut. Ferrier is also seen in a brown (or olive green) sweater vest, which is another nice touch. Like Poirot (and the other men in the film), he gets to wear a spearpoint shirt but instead of being formal, it has a sporty, bold multistripe in yellow and brown (which is delightfully Fall) and lacks the collar bar (a good move that to show that despite his Esquire Man-esque fit, he is not a dandy).

The rest of the attire can be found below, using the few photos that are currently available. This will always be the issue of covering contemporary films! 

Overall, the film (and its predecessors) have pretty good menswear. It’s not period-perfect, but it does make good use of expressive details which help play into the period setting and makes each character feel distinct in a natural way. Mind you, tere aren’t a variety of looks within this film, simply because it takes place over the course of a single night and uses a small cast.  But the costumers still did a great job. 

Makes you wonder why Branagh keeps using different costumers for his films. Just stick with one!

If you like listening rather than reading, then don’t worry. We covered A Haunting In Venice on our bonus podcast! You listen to the first 15 minutes of the bonus pod below, but you’ll have to subscribe on Patreon to get the RSS feed of the full episode (as well as access to our Discord).

Don’t forget to support us on Patreon to get some extra content and access to our exclusive Discord. Oh and don’t forget, we do a podcast every two weeks!

Buh-bye!

EthanMWong | StyleandDirection

The Podcast is produced by MJ.